Koodankulam: Solidarity Statement from Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace

The CNDP welcomes the Tamil Nadu cabinet’s resolution urging the Prime Minister to halt work at the Koodankulam Nuclear plant ‘until the apprehensions of people are allayed’. This comes after a heroic peaceful mass struggle, in which more than 100 people sat on a hunger-strike for 12 days and
tens of thousands supported them.

We congratulate the people of Tamilnadu for this agitation, which is in continuity of their struggle against the KNPP since its inception and has alerted the Indian people to the inherent hazards of nuclear power. It has also instilled courage and hope in people agitating against nuclear projects in other parts of the country including Jaitapur, Mithivirdi, Chutka and Fatehabad.

We demand that the Centre immediately stop work at Koodankulam and hold the widest possible consultations on India’s nuclear energy projects and policy. The government and the nuclear establishment must respect the people’s will and the Tamil Nadu cabinet’s resolution in a democratic spirit, and stop making false claims about the safety of the Russian reactors being installed at Koodamkulam. A recent report by Russian nuclear safety experts on the state of Russia’s reactors states that they are severely under-prepared to withstand earthquakes and tsunamis, as well as manmade disasters and have serious design flaws, which could lead to a Fukushima-style catastrophe.

CNDP reiterates its demand for a moratorium on all future nuclear projects in India and a transparent and democratic process to re-evaluate their economic, environmental and human costs.